Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-02-04
THE pRlNK1Na HAp1r IN EUROPE.

Dining o few days ago with our
and excellent United States
Consul, Geo. l.. Oatlln now in his ninth
year Of consular service hese and in
France and Germany, we remarked
upon the Swiss complaints OF loss of
work by American and German com
petition. But, said the consul, Swiss
Ilaborers are suffering much more from
their drinking habits than any from
'decllne in their customary Industries.
The use of %schnapps, o sort Of bad
whisky, is becoming prevalent among
them. / find this statement confirmed
by the reports Of other ~consuls. Consul
Clifford, of Basic, in his reports of 1884,
says: "The statistics show an increase
In draua drinking during the last ten.
years which. if not checked, must geEd
in affecting Swiss industries very dis
astrously. So far as this
consular district is concerned, il ia re-
ported that the number of public houses
in the canton OF Basic city he's ,ncreas-
ed during the last decade from 239 to
AL. in Soleure, from 81 to FOB; in Ar
govie, from 343 to 1920; while in the lat
ter canton the population has slightly
dimlnished. In all Switzerland the
number of drinking places has increased
from 1900 to 10000. so that there ID one
such place for every fifty adult males.
And these figures indicate only q part
of the evil. Distillation being free, there
a<s numerous stills scattered oyer the
country Of various capacities. from dig
t~illeries operated by steam, to the little
domestic stiil where the father or moth.
er prepares poisonpfor the whole family
from potatoes, refuse grapes, cherries
and other fruits and vegetables. In the
single canton uf Berne there are 6O36 OF
these distilleries, yielding 1000, 600 gals
ions OF schnapps q year. III
is the working people who suffer chiefly
from this evil. II is from their ranks
thBt the prisons are chiefly filled, where
one-halt of the inmates are said to have
been brought by drink The picture
is dark, but NOT darker than my OBSERVE
ton leads me to believe ia true. Itysis
confirmed by the fact that the federal
government has taken the alarm. and a
commission OF the national council is
now in session at Basic preparing the
project Of o law for the restriction OF the
manufacture of alcoholic drinks.
The truth seems to be that the use OF
strong drink is on the increare In Europe
generally, Several OF our ~consuls, like
Mason, Of Marseiiles, and Williams, Of
Bouen, France, admitting the increase
of intemperance, attribute it to the
diminished production and increared
price OF the cheap wines. DOUBTLESS
these AUS have had some influence,
but other causes have done more.
The use Of wine Of table is nearly
universal here. ] have found this true
both in French and German Switzerland.
as we'll a. France. I have seen o few
persons, chiefly Germans, drinking beer
with their meals, and fewer still taking
water. The poorer classes, il ia said,
take cider. Wine or beer r older or
schnapps is tboaght to be necessary to
health-for 1aboring people at least,
Even the school children commonly
take Q bottle of cheap wine % part Oh
their lunches On their school excursions.
The belief GEMS general that it is not
hsalthful to drink water. Most people
drink coffee with their breakfast and the
afternoon lunch, and wine with dinner
aud supper. a. also with the forenoon
lunch, nearly all laboring people and
servants taking the Ave meals q day.
A swiss pastors wife. an Intelligent
woman, seriously warned MS that
though the water was excellent IL is not
safe TO drink it without vine or sugar
to scut' IL. We had noticed that the
lecturers ct the college du France alwsys
put sugar in their glass OF water,
II IL, sometimes claimed that the com-
mon use OF wine and beer il . preventive
Of intemperance; and that in she wine
end beer drinking countries i~ntoxioation
IL rareAMI am sorry to say that ve have
seen q plenty Of drunken men In both